“The economy has turned. Most of the markets are picking up,” said Mr Weber, now chairman of Swiss bank UBS. “The China stock markets are strongly rebounding … in countries like the US, growth is bottoming out. The major economies are recovering.”

However, he stressed that in one area in particular the global economy is not seeing enough progress – employment. “Jobs are lost and are not recovered quickly,” he said.

Turning to his own sector, he said banks need to change in two areas, rethinking their role to focus on the client rather than“self-interest”, and to win hearts and minds publicly following the financial crisis.

“We’ve dealt with the issues in the corporations, we haven’t dealt with it in society,” he said.

Mr Weber was speaking at a press conference to mark the opening of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, along with his co-chairs of this year’s meeting, who likewise flagged what issues they hope to address.

Muhtar Kent, chairman and chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company, highlighted the pervasive “lack of confidence” both government and corporate institutions face from the public around the world.

He said it is becoming “harder and harder” to “crack the algebra for growth” in today’s environment. But he argued that any growth will only come “with optimism, forward-looking and investment, as opposed to trying to tax our way our of this problem our save our way to prosperity”.

Mr Kent also highlighted what he saw as a “huge fault in our social system”: that women represent 66pc of the global workforce but receive 10pc of its income. He called for moves to support women entrepreneurs, in particular.

Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive of US giant The Dow Chemical Company, stressed the need to squash the continuing volatility and uncertainty in the markets to allow businesses to invest.

“By definition, capital is a coward,” he said.

He pointed to China, Singapore, Germany and Saudi Arabia as “bright spots” where the authorities are taking the necessary actions.

Looking ahead, he said tackling energy policy and climate change issues represent the “same thing”, and pointed to the shale energy revolution in the US as a “game-changer” in its impact. “It will be a good thing for the world,” he said.

Huguette Labelle, the Canadian politician who now chairs the Transparency International campaign group, meanwhile said in future businesses would, like governments, have to become more open with their publics to succeed.